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Chapter 288 The Photograph
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2025-09-05 11:18:04The standfirst glared at me, mocking: ‘Ashton Laurent and Lea Lopez at Business Dinner. Romance Confirmed?’
My phone screen glittered with the photo, Ashton seated at a long table, Lea leaning close, a smile curved just so, her hand grazing the stem of her glass as if she were starring in some perfectly staged advert for power couples.
The article went on to describe them as a natural match, old friends with a shared history, equals in ambition and ruthlessness.
A note at the bottom added, almost casually, that Ashton’s ex-girlfriend, a jewellery designer based partly in Paris, had been absent from public view, ‘perhaps laying down roots abroad’.
That last line twisted like a knife.
I forced myself to breathe. This was not the first time I had seen Ashton in the news with another woman.
Rowan Hale had once plastered her smile across the tabloids beside his. That story had been nothing but a manipulation on Rowan
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I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis Chapter 293 A Difficult Meeting
I hadn't seen Louisa Granger in months—not properly, not since my broken engagement with Rhys.She had always liked me. Sometimes I even thought she loved me more than my own mother did. When I was younger, she would invite me for tea in her sunlit drawing room, listen to my chatter, and beam at me as if she were already imagining me as her daughter-in-law. She wanted me to marry Rhys so badly it seemed like it was her dream as much as his.But that was before everything went wrong. Before Rhys destroyed whatever we had with a slap, before he married Catherine, and before the Granger family unraveled.Since then, I had kept my distance.Now I was walking into a quiet café in Midtown, the kind of place with whitewashed walls, leafy plants, and soft jazz floating from hidden speakers. Neutral ground. I thought it safer than her house, which was haunted with memories I didn't want to stir up.She was already there, sitting near the window with a cup of coffee untouched in front of her.L
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis Chapter 292 A Deal
Ashton’s knees buckled and he went down hard on the marble floor, the sound echoing over the chatter of champagne glasses and false laughter.The hall erupted into gasps and shrieks. A circle of glittering gowns and tuxedos pressed forward, every pair of eyes wide with morbid curiosity.‘Ashton!’ I dropped beside him, my knees skidding on the polished tiles. His skin was burning beneath my touch. His eyes fluttered open, glazed, then rolled back.‘Someone call an ambulance!’ I shouted.‘I’ll handle it.’ Daniel crouched at my side, his phone already out.‘Do it fast,’ I snapped, brushing Ashton’s damp hair back. ‘Ashton, can you hear me? Stay with me.’A murmur ran through the crowd. I caught snatches. Fever. Infection. Poor man, after that ordeal at sea. Isn’t he the one supposed to be marrying that Lopez woman?‘Give him some space!’ I bar
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis Chapter 291 Charity Dinner
I checked my reflection one last time in the compact mirror, snapped it shut, and slipped it back into my clutch. Lipstick intact, hair behaving itself. I took a steadying breath and stepped into the grand hall.The chandeliers overhead gleamed like frozen fireworks. The clink of glasses and the rise and fall of conversation filled the air. This was one of those chamber of commerce charity dinners where a plate of rubbery steak cost a five-figure ‘donation’. Normally, I would have found an excuse to skip it. I hated these events, the false laughter, the posturing, the air thick with perfume and self-importance.But tonight was different.Lea’s words still rang in my head. She had said she would do anything for Ashton. Anything. That poisonous little boast had lodged under my skin. It made me ask myself the question I had been avoiding: what about me?I knew Ashton was buried in problems at LGH. Turning up at his office demanding to know
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis Chapter 290 Confrontation at the Café
The receptionist gave me a rehearsed smile, polite and immovable.‘I’m sorry, Miss Vance, but you’re not on Mr Laurent’s schedule today. Do you have an appointment?’The words nearly slipped out, ‘I’m his wife.’Then reality caught up with me. I wasn’t. Not anymore.I was still fumbling for an answer when another voice cut across the lobby.‘It’s all right, I’ll take care of it. Miss Vance, why don’t we step this way?’The hairs prickled at the back of my neck. I turned and found myself face to face with Lea.Blonde hair falling sleek around her shoulders, a fitted dress in some shade designed to command attention without looking like it tried, makeup immaculate. She looked as though she had stepped out of one of those glossy magazines featuring formidable businesswomen.‘Ash is in a meeting,’ she said smoothly, already heading for t
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis Chapter 289 Ashton: The Boardroom
The boardroom was silent except for the faint hum of the air-conditioning. Twelve pairs of eyes were fixed on me, each one calculating, suspicious, or quietly resentful.The long mahogany table gleamed under the overhead lights. I sat at the head, as I always did, my right hand resting casually on the arm of the chair, though the bandages beneath my sleeve still itched and ached with every pulse.One of the older men cleared his throat. His name was Laurent too, though barely anyone outside the family remembered his exact connection. Second cousin once removed, perhaps. He was nearing seventy, with a heavy jaw and an air of self-importance.‘Ashton,’ he began, his tone deliberately paternal. ‘No one here doubts your capabilities, but you’ve been through an ordeal. Stranded on an island, injured, feverish. Surely you must admit you need rest. Perhaps it would be wise to step back for a time. Let others shoulder the burden until you recover
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis Chapter 288 The Photograph
The standfirst glared at me, mocking: ‘Ashton Laurent and Lea Lopez at Business Dinner. Romance Confirmed?’My phone screen glittered with the photo, Ashton seated at a long table, Lea leaning close, a smile curved just so, her hand grazing the stem of her glass as if she were starring in some perfectly staged advert for power couples.The article went on to describe them as a natural match, old friends with a shared history, equals in ambition and ruthlessness.A note at the bottom added, almost casually, that Ashton’s ex-girlfriend, a jewellery designer based partly in Paris, had been absent from public view, ‘perhaps laying down roots abroad’.That last line twisted like a knife.I forced myself to breathe. This was not the first time I had seen Ashton in the news with another woman.Rowan Hale had once plastered her smile across the tabloids beside his. That story had been nothing but a manipulation on Rowan
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